Almost at the beginning again
by amido-black
Summary: Stuck in a loop, a day that never ends, Grissom has to come to grips with the fact that his intelligence can't help him out this time. G/S
1. Default Chapter

Summary: Stuck in a loop, a day that never ends, Grissom tries to come to grips with the fact that his intelligence can't help him out this time. G/S

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from CSI, even though I really wish I did. 

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please be gentle! If you have any tips for me, don't hesitate to tell me. Please R&R! 

Almost at the beginning again.

            The classic sounds of a carnival rang faintly in Grissom's ears, echoes of childhood fun in a now dismal scene. He glanced around once more before turning his attention to the two dead bodies on the ground. 

            Sarah acknowledged Grissom with a warm smile before pointing to one the bodies, a tough looking man with tattoos, a shaved head, and a fire red mustache. "He's kind of a scary looking guy."

            Instead of replying, Grissom began to visually process the body. "Puncture wounds on his neck, arms, hands, legs and stomach; some are old some are fresh. We could be dealing with a torture case."

            "I hate to burst your bubble." Sarah said as she pointed to a large, hand-painted sign depicting their first victim. "They call him the human pin cushion, but his real name is John Adams. These puncture wounds can't prove anything."

            "Ah, well done. Now it's my turn." Grissom complimented a slightly blushing Sarah before leaning closely to the second body, motioning for Sarah to follow suit. "Do you smell that?"

            She leaned in and delicately sniffed a few time. "It smells like almonds… Are you suggesting that he was poisoned with cyanide?"

            "Yes and no." Grissom replied, pointing to another life-sized painting while reading from a sheet of paper. "Donald Van Dome, a.k.a. the poison man. The cyanide could be from his act."

            "So what you're basically telling me that we're still at square one, right?" Sarah sighed. "Great. I'll go see if we have any witnesses to talk to."

            "Thank you." Grissom replied as she walked away, leaving him alone in a taped off cage. 'Well, not entirely alone.' Grissom thought to himself as he shivered slightly. 'I never did like carnivals. Maybe I should go join Sarah…'

            "I can see why you like her."

            Grissom jumped up, did a spin mid-air and, after landing, found a woman standing behind him. "Who are you and why are standing in a crime scene?"

            "All of that will be explained when the time comes." She said mysteriously, clacking her fingers together dismissively. 

            Grissom peered past her at a large oil painting. "It says there that your name is 'Sasha the Gypsy'."

            "The time has come." Sasha glanced around. "My name is Sasha the gypsy, and I am here for you."

            "Well, unless you can tell me what and who killed these two, I'd suggest that you exit the scene." Grissom quipped stubbornly. "It is illegal for you to be here, you know."

            "Hmmm…. I wonder." Sasha cocked her head to the side. "Pick a card."

            "What?" Grissom, confused, glanced at Sasha's empty hands.

            "Pick a card." Sasha repeated, gesturing towards the dead bodies. Grissom turned to see four cards laying on the bodies; a Queen of hearts, a 2 of clubs, a 10 of spades and a joker. "Pick the card that calls out to your heart."

            "My crime scene!" Grissom cried despairingly.

            "That's what I thought you were going to say." Sasha nodded sadly before taking a step towards Grissom. "What would you do if your intellect was unable to help you?"

            "That's not going to happen." Grissom replied confidently, although the fact that the cards seemed to have disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared left him a little uneasy. 

            "We'll see." Sash smiled. 

            Just as he was about to ask what she meant, Sarah called him. 

            "Grissom! We've got a lead!"

            Grissom turned back to Sasha, only to find nothing. Even after the crime scene was painstakingly searched, he couldn't find a trace of her, not even a footprint.

2 B continued… 


	2. chapter 2

A/N: I'm sorry that it took me this long to update, I've been kind of busy. :) Oh, and I'm sorry about the fact that I spelt Sara's name wrong, I still can't believe that I did that! Anyways, thanks for the reviews, they were really great. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from CSI; even though I wish that I did.

Warrick knocked on the doorframe as he stuck his head into the dim office. "Hey Grissom, we're calling a meeting."

            "Sure, I'll be right there." Grissom looked up from the file case that lay open on his desk and stood up. As an after thought, he tucked the file under his arm and walked into the briefing room.

            "Whoa." Grissom's gaze was greeted by four more. "Why was I the last one told about this meeting?" He shook his head as if dismissing the question. "What's the meeting for?"

            "I'm sure that you're all aware of the fact that Lindsey is in Girl Scouts." Catherine said seriously. "At the last meeting, each girl was assigned a flat of cookies to sell. The boxes are two dollars, I'm assuming that you're all going to buy at least one box each."

            "Yes Sir." Nick saluted jokingly.

            "I think it's time that we move on to a more serious matter." Sara leaned foreword and placed her elbows on the table, folding her hands in front of her. "As you may have heard; Greg has been collecting my DNA through hair samples. He intends to use these to create a clone of me to do his bidding. Now this has got to come to an end before someone gets hurt. Namely Greg."

            "Ha ha. Very funny." Grissom smiled slightly as Sara playfully punched her fist into the palm of her hand. "Now really, why did you call this meeting?"

            "Things have been going pretty slow lately and we were wondering if you could use our extra help on the carnival case." Warrick said.

            After a nod from Sara, Grissom agreed. "All right, it couldn't hurt to have the extra help."

            "And please keep an eye on Greg." Sara said as she stood up. "He's been really quiet and preoccupied lately. It worries the heck out of me." 

            'Silly Sara, Greg's not really all that bad.' Grissom thought to himself as he rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. 'Then again….'

            Greg stood in front of him with safety gloves on, blowtorch in hand and safety goggles loosely framing his brown eyes. "Hey Grissom!" Greg switched into a 'tough guy' stance. "Wanna play _extreme tiddly winks_?" 

            Grissom glanced the young man up and down before shaking his head. "No."

            "You're no fun." Greg pouted before scuffing back into the lab.

            Grissom continued on his way to his office, grabbing a mug of coffee on his way. He spent the next few minutes talking to his tarantula as he fed his various insects and sipped his steaming coffee. After setting his now empty mug on a conveniently out of the way shelf, Grissom sat at his desk and poured over the open case file in front of him once more, hoping to find some previously over looked clue.


	3. chapter 3

A/N: Aww, thanks for the review you guys. This is finally a chapter where you can see where the story is going. I know that the chapters are shorter than most, but it was the best way to break it up. As you all know, I don't own the characters from CSI and no amount of wishing is going to change that for me. Please R&R!!

A light knock sounded and jolted Grissom out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Warrick standing in his doorway expectantly. 

            "What can I do for you, Warrick?" Grissom asked as he closed the folder in front of him. 

            "We're calling a meeting." Warrick answered. 

            "Again?" Grissom muttered nearly silently under his breath, then spoke up loud enough to be heard by his friend. "I'll be right there."

            Warrick nodded and left for the briefing room, leaving Grissom alone in his office. 'What could this meeting be for?' Grissom wondered to himself. ' Maybe someone found a new lead.' 

            Cheered up by this thought, Grissom smiled to himself as he stepped into the briefing room. The smile disappeared when he found everyone else sitting at the table waiting for him. 

            "Why am I the last one to know about these meetings lately?" Grissom asked uneasily as he sat in his chair. "Please, do start." 

"I'm sure that you're all aware of the fact that Lindsey is in Girl Scouts." Catherine said seriously as a look of total confusion took over Grissom's face. "At the last meeting, each girl was assigned a flat of cookies to sell-"

"What?" Grissom asked.

"-The boxes are $2 each, I'm assuming that you're all going to buy at least one box each." Catherine finished as if she hadn't been interrupted. 

"What? What, what?" Grissom adjusted his glasses. "Didn't we just do this?" 

"No." Warrick said slowly. 

"I think that it's time for us to move on to more serious matters." Sara spoke up. "As you may have heard, Greg has been collecting my DNA via hair samples, which he intends to use to make a clone-"

"See?! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Grissom interrupted, pointing at Sara accusingly. "We just did this!" 

"Maybe you need to lie down for a minute after the meeting." Nick suggested.

"You know what? I'm going to save you guys the time and end this meeting now. Yes, you can join us on the carnival case." He stood up. "If you guys need me, I'll be in my office." 

'This is too weird.' Grissom thought as he walked down the hall.

"Hey Grissom!" Gregg said brightly, assuming the same stance that he had been in earlier. "Wanna-"

"No!" Grissom held out a hand in front of him to ward off any on coming comments from the figure that was now trudging gloomily back to the lab.

Continuing on into his office, Gil walked past his hungry bugs and straight to his desk. Even when the world around him was as confusing as it was right now, the evidence never lied; and that simple security was the most comforting thing that Grissom could think of right now.


	4. chapter 4

A/N: Tee hee, two chapters in one day! Ok, this chapter is really _really_ short, but it's my favorite for some reason. I know that this is kind of out of character for Grissom, but every story with a loop like this needs to have a chapter like this. Any ways, I don't own any of the characters from CSI, blah blah blah, you all know the drill. Please R&R! :) 

When a knock resounded through his office, Gil looked up with a smile. Somewhere in the chaotic pictures of destruction, he had managed to find some sort of inner peace. "Meeting, right? I'll be right there."

            A confused looking Warrick nodded before leaving. Grissom unwrapped a large piece of gum and popped it into his mouth as he walked to the briefing room. He sat in his chair and rocked back and forth, enjoying the pink bubbles that he was blowing. 

            "You know, a kid I went to school with used to blow really cool bubbles with gum." Nick commented before Catherine could start the meeting.

            "What, like this?" Grissom let out one strong breath and shot the pink wad at Nick. He laughed out loud when it hit Nick on the cheek before dropping to the floor.

            "Not really, no." Nick wiped his cheek with disgust as Grissom picked up the gum, shrugged and popped it back in his mouth. "Ah, dude! That's just nasty!"

            Delighted with Nick's reaction, Grissom smiled. "Look, as much fun as Girl Scouts and clones are, I'm going to leave you guys with the case for a while."

            He walked down the hall with an unusual bounce in his step and swung the case file loosely in his hand.

            "Hey Grissom!" Greg assumed the now familiar pose. "Wanna play _extreme tiddly winks_?"

            "No Greg, can't you ever be normal?" Grissom rolled his eyes before smiling. "Now, racing office chairs down the hall and having evidence fights? That's normal." 

**

            Grissom sat down at his desk, worn out from his latest activities. He and Greg had come to the conclusion that balled up finger prints flew better than balled up pictures and that racing office chairs, while not normal, is definitely fun.

            He opened the ever-handy case file and glanced at its contents before closing it. 

            'Let's hope that my day loops one more time,' Grissom thought to himself with a sigh, 'because I'm pretty sure that the jury won't be too impressed with taped together evidence.'


	5. chapter 5

A/N: Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews! You have no idea how much they brightened my day and kept me writing this story. Well, this is the longest chapter that I've written, but it is also the last chapter of the story. :( Anyways, you all know the deal: I don't own any of the characters from CSI and so forth. Please R&R!

Grissom opened the case folder in front of him before closing it, then opening it again. A slight smile graced his face as he looked down at the mint condition contents. He was so engrossed in the file that by the time of Warrick's meeting announcement, he had barely blinked. 

            "I'll be right there." Grissom told Warrick absentmindedly, as if he couldn't tear himself away from the pictures and facts in front of him. 

            "We'll be waiting." Warrick replied, accustomed to Grissom's detached ways.

            As soon as Warrick was out of view, Grissom excitedly tucked the file away in is desk and flipped through his phone book. What he'd done during the last loop had been fun, there was no question about it. But it hadn't been what he'd really wanted to do. He quickly found the number that he'd been searching for and dialed with nervous fingers. 

            As he waited for the ringing to be answered, an out of place 'ding' sounded from his computer. He turned to see the message 'You've got mail' flash on his screen. 

            'Well, this is new.' Grissom thought to himself as he opened the opened the message and waited for the phone on the other end of the line to be answered. 

            The email was short, concise and sent from Greg's work address. Grissom muttered the message to himself as he read it. "Being normal isn't a good thing, it just denotes a lack of courage."

            Just then, the phone was finally answered. "Flo's Floral Shop, how may I help you?"

            "I was hoping that you could tell me how much it cost to have a dozen long-stemmed roses delivered." Grissom asked.

            After placing his order, he rushed over to the briefing room, apologizing pathetically as he sat with the rest of his friends. He sat through the meeting quietly, laughing and offering his money when he was supposed to. When everyone agreed to work on the same case until something new came up, the meeting was finally dismissed after what seemed like an eternity to Grissom. He walked down the hall excitedly and thought to himself. 'Soon…'

            Right on time, Greg stepped into the hall with his safety gear and blowtorch, and offered Grissom yet another game of 'extreme tiddly winks'. Grissom happily declined from the invitation.

            "You never want to play!" Greg replied sadly, his frustration and disappointment evident on his face. 

            "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that…" Grissom began before they were interrupted by a man with flowers walking past them.

 **************************

            Sara was feverishly filling out forms when she heard someone knock politely on her door. Expecting more paper work, she was surprised to see a man wearing a green uniform standing in her doorway.

"Are you Sara Sidle?" The man asked with a smile.

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "Can I help you?"

"These are for you." He replied, taking four bouquets of roses in vases from a cart he'd been pulling behind him. 

Flustered, Sara sat gapping in silence as her office was virtually filled with the roses. After the deliveryman had left, she opened the card that had accompanied the flowers and read it out loud slowly. 

"Lately it seems like everyday is exactly the same, it's frustrating and confusing. The only thing that brightens my day is simply seeing you, and I've never really thanked you. But I'd like to change that. Does dinner sound all right? 

                        -Gil"

"Well?" Grissom asked suddenly, causing Sara to jump.

            "I would love to." Sara replied smiling as she got up and walked over to him. "How about right after tonight's shift?"

"Sounds perfect." Grissom smiled as she walked past him on her way to file the paperwork she'd completed. As an afterthought, she turned back and kissed him hesitantly on the cheek before disappearing down the hall.

            Blushing lightly, Grissom went back to his office and waited for the end of the shift to roll around. 

**************************

            Grissom cried out inwardly when a knock sounded and he gloomily replied without looking up. "Be right there, Warrick."

            "It's not Warrick." Greg replied.

            His thoughts raced at his unexpected visitor and he found himself focusing on the words that he had exchanged with Sasha. She had mentioned something about his intelligence not being able to assist him… was this what she'd meant? He also recalled her asking him to 'follow his heart', and his heart had been begging him to tell Sara what he felt. Grissom glanced at the clock and, relieved, motioned for Greg to come in. "What can I do for you?"

            Greg sat in a chair in front of Grissom's desk and lazily slung one leg over the arm of the chair. "You said you wanted to talk to me. I'm assuming that you're referring to the loop we've been experiencing."

            "How did you-"

            "Let's just say that practical jokes should _not_ be directed at carnival gypsies." Greg said, smiling. 


End file.
